SMART VEGAS: A FORWARD-FOCUSED PLAN

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SMART VEGAS ACTION PLAN

The City of Las Vegas was the first city to launch a driverless shuttle 1 , and Nevada was the first state to license an autonomous vehicle. Mobility with technology is increasingly important as demand escalates for our transportation infrastructure. Optimizing the existing network is critical. Mobility

Smart Vegas was initially created to support enhanced mobility. Transportation must effectively, reliably, and safely move people and freight, and its performance has a direct impact on the City’s overall health. More than 90 percent of the regional workforce travels in a car. While average commute times are a little over 25 minutes, congestion in the region has increased more than 35 percent since 2000 and is likely to continue to worsen. 2 Anticipated population growth of an additional half a million residents by 2035 poses a risk to increased congestion, carbon emissions, and motorist, pedestrian, and bicyclist safety on an already strained infrastructure. The City completed a long-term strategic Mobility Master Plan 2 to help guide transportation decisions and prioritize public investments for the years ahead. Modern mobility solutions — such as mobility as a service (MaaS) — leverage technology and data to more accurately plan demand, capital improvement, and maintenance programs. Automated vehicles, most of which are electric powered, have created a new vehicle ownership model — the Shared Electric Automated Vehicle (SEAV). A SEAV model allows for vehicles to be owned by fleets or carshare companies and can be summoned on-demand by users. Benefits include better trip planning, consolidated payment systems, and data on per-mile usage fees for transport in key areas.

Key Considerations While several Smart Vegas programs have begun to address mobility concerns through AV pilots, enhanced infrastructure technologies, vehicle monitoring, and data analysis for capital planning programs, Smart Vegas should continue to focus improvements for a more reliable, safer, quicker, and effective transportation network. Providing incentives for companies and motorists that use environmentally friendly vehicles will also encourage collaboration with MaaS and automobile technology providers that can then yield data for corridor improvements. Alternative fuel systems should also expand to include additional charging stations and embedded, inductive charging on key corridors. Funding assistance for these initiatives could come from federal grants through USDOT, but alternative sources such as congestion-based or road usage pricing could help as well.

Relevant Priorities

Iconic Las Vegas

Workforce development

Smart Vegas

At-risk Populations

Public Safety

Neighborhoods

1. Southern Nevada Strong Regional Plan 2. mobilitymasterplan.vegas